This invention relates in general to the construction of firearms and in particular to a new and useful drive head having a rotatable bushing with an end drive face with an engagement slot which is engageable by a coupling projection of a drive element carried in a drive hub of the cartridge feed mechanism.
An automatic firearm with recoil and counter recoil motion of the feed block is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,845 dated Apr. 8, 1975. That patent is directed to a cartridge feed mechanism avoiding or eliminating the drawbacks and disadvantages of prior art firearms and permitting the switching from one sort of ammunition to another within a minimum time and with a relatively small force, and with which, upon the switching, the first shot with the desired ammunition is immediately discharged. It is also provided that the cartridge feed is independent of the breech motion, to minimize the acceleration forces acting on the belt and to obtain a short overall length of the weapon.
Even though the solution of U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,845 was satisfactory in dealing with the problem posed and fully coming up to expectations as to the performance in practice, it can still be improved to better comply with the rough combat conditions and the high strain as well as the indispensable maintenance connected thereto. From this point of view, the present invention is directed to a cartridge feed mechanism which, particularly in order to facilitate the maintenance, is easier to handle, namely can be more easily swung about its joint or point of support.